Canadian couple's love note in a bottle found 13 years later on Irish shore
Article content
Brad and Anita Squires had been dating for about a year when they decided to end a quiet September picnic on Bell Island in 2012 by casting a message out to sea.
Article content
'Today we enjoyed dinner, this bottle of wine and each other on the edge of the island,' Anita wrote on a piece of lined paper before stuffing it into the bottle. Brad stood up and hurled it into the waters of Conception Bay.
Article content
Article content
'I gave it everything I had,' he said in an interview Wednesday. 'We didn't see it hit the water, it was too high up … I just assumed it smashed on the rocks.'
Article content
Article content
In less than an hour, Martha Farrell with the Maharees Conservation Association was reading a text from Anita Squires confirming she and Brad were now married with three children.
Article content
'And then I said, 'Yay, love conquers all — and the Atlantic Ocean!'' Farrell said in an interview.
Article content
'It was unbelievable, because we didn't know what had become of this very romantic couple,' she added. 'Our project is about coastal resilience and climate adaptation. And we were wondering, is this love story, is this romance resilient? Would they still be together?'
Article content
Article content
Brad and Anita Squires were in a long-distance relationship when they had their picnic on Bell Island, which is about a 20-minute drive and a short ferry ride northwest of St. John's. He was a young police officer posted in British Columbia and his future wife was training to be a nurse in Newfoundland.
Article content
Article content
They were married in 2016, and they have two teenagers and a young child.
Article content
'We were young in love and now we're older in love,' Brad Squires said Wednesday.
Article content
Farrell said the crowd at the Gays' house made a toast to the Newfoundland couple after reading the letter. Later, across the Atlantic, Brad and Anita Squires toasted the group in Ireland as they shared text messages with Farrell.
Article content
'Anita and I both feel like we have new friends, and we're all equally amazed,' Brad Squires said.
Article content
He and his wife will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary next year. The Maharees Conservation Association, co-founded by Farrell in 2016, is also celebrating its 10th anniversary next year.
Article content
'I guess we have some people to visit and a trip to probably plan,' Squires said.
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
7 hours ago
- CTV News
Search operation over for woman who went missing on ferry in Atlantic Canada
The Marine Atlantic ferry Blue Puttees is seen at dock in St. John's, N.L. on Friday, Feb. 11, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly CHANNEL-PORT AUX BASQUES — A search and rescue operation has ended for a 41-year-old woman who went missing on a ferry travelling between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax says aircraft and ships that had been searching for the woman have been returned to base. Hickey says in an email that the RCMP have taken over the missing person's case. Police have said the woman was last seen around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday on board the Marine Atlantic Blue Puttees sailing from North Sydney, N.S., to Port aux Basques, N.L. A Hercules plane, Cormorant helicopter, a coast guard ship and a civilian aircraft all searched for the woman in the water south of Port aux Basques, N.L. The RCMP searched the ferry extensively upon arrival in Port aux Basques and did not find the woman. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025.
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
It's grind and patch season in St. John's. Here's what goes into road rehab
With road construction well underway across the St. John's region, navigating can sometimes feel like an obstacle course. But what goes into the decision of what roads get worked on, and why does the City of St. John's take a grind and patch approach to fixing roads? We asked Mark White, the city's manager of construction engineering.
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
How beach bonfires became a staple of St. John's Pride celebration
St. John's Pride festivities are in full swing across the city, but the annual beach party goes back decades, representing Newfoundland and Labrador's 2SLGBTQ+ history. The beach party will be held on Tuesday at Topsail Beach, but the event is more than a fun party. Beach bonfires started being held by members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in the 1980s, said Susan Rose, who attended the early gatherings. Rose would go to the bonfires with other friends. She said they would see Pride celebrations in bigger cities like Toronto, and wanted to celebrate too. "So a group of us just got together and said, 'Let's go to Middle Cove Beach and have a bonfire,'" Rose told CBC Radio's Weekend AM. Rose said many people feared they could lose their job if people found out they were 2SLGBTQ+. While homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada in 1969, discrimination based on sexual orientation was outlawed in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1997. "I always remember being on alert until we were protected," said Rose. "I started teaching in 1985 and I had to be more careful then because I would have lost my job." The early bonfires were set up in secluded spots behind rocks, because it allowed the people to be somewhat hidden. Rose said they even had someone on watch. "I remember feeling, 'Wow, I'm in the closet on the beach.' And that really stuck with me.… That puts you on edge," she said. At one point, she said, a group of women held a bonfire alone, but found out the hard way that it wasn't safe. "Of course, we were a bunch of good looking young women and some of the guys there sort of wandered over," said Rose. Eventually, they started inviting gay men as well. "Some of us would be sitting there on the rock, with the fire, and holding hands … but you were always sitting … on a hot rock," said Rose. The beach bonfire became something members of the local 2SLGBTQ+ community began doing every year. Now it is a staple of the Pride celebration. While the event is usually held at Middle Cove Beach, St. John's Pride spokesperson Ellen Davis said this year it will be held on Topsail Beach because it's more accessible. "It's a wonderful celebration down there now and there's no need to worry, and everyone can hold hands and hug each other and not be harassed or targeted," said Rose. And in the event of a fire ban, like the one currently in place provincewide, Davis said an announcement will be made on social media about possibly postponing.
